The AI Power Gap: Hospitality Lags Behind as Value Shifts to Tech Giants

While the world discusses AI as the most significant economic shift since the arrival of the smartphone, the hospitality sector finds itself in a precarious position. New research from Hotelschool The Hague reveals a structural lag: only one in ten Dutch hospitality firms currently utilise AI on a structural basis. This constitutes a ‘code red’ for the industry, as economic value rapidly shifts towards external tech intermediaries.

From Brands to ‘Sleeping Utilities’ The report warns of a future in which hotels are demoted to ‘sleeping utilities’, mere interchangeable providers of beds for the algorithms of tech giants. While AI-using firms in the broader economy already account for half of total turnover, in the hospitality sector, this figure is only a quarter. As hotel owners hesitate, external platforms are weaponising algorithms to capture the entire guest relationship.

Key future perspectives highlighted in the Hotelschool The Hague report:

• The efficiency trap: By 2028, 80% of hotels will have implemented AI assistants, yet this will yield 0% additional market share. Efficiency has simply become the new ‘price of admission’: a hygiene factor rather than a competitive advantage.

• The human premium: The paradox of 2030 is that more technology actually requires more hospitality. Authenticity is emerging as the only true competitive advantage. Whether for a boutique hotel or a large chain, providing a verifiable human connection is no longer reserved for ‘ultimate luxury’; it is the only way to remain visible in a world flooded with AI-generated ‘slop’ (synthetic marketing noise).

• Five scenarios for the sector. The report maps a spectrum of possibilities, ranging from the ‘Nightmare of No Slack’ (where staff are driven to the second by algorithmic optimisation) to the ‘Worker-Empowering Path’ (where AI serves as a ‘co-pilot’ that removes administrative burdens and restores the focus on hospitality for the employee).

A call for digital sovereignty. The report is not merely another technological forecast, but a strategic roadmap to inform hospitality leaders on how to prepare for a future in the AI era. "The question is whether we allow technology to happen to us, or if we reclaim control through digital sovereignty," the study states. The report advises industry leaders to explicitly reinvest AI-driven productivity gains into ‘High-Touch’ hospitality to remain relevant for the critical guest of the future.

Interested? Read the Outlook Paper 2026 here: https://www.hotelschool.nl/research/outlook-paper-2026/

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Nina de Graaf

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